Christians rebut Bible 'pornography' claim

Christian politicians and Church leaders today strongly condemned allegations made by a Muslim organisation of “pornography” in the Bible. Julius Salik, convener of World Minorities Alliance and a former federal minister, said it was an injustice to Christians and a violation of their religious freedom. “The undue interference in our religious matters would cause disputes and discord among the followers of both religions”, he stated in a press statement. A religious political party is seeking redress for what it claims is “pornographic” content in the Bible. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to examine “blasphemous materials” in the Bible during a press conference on May 30 in Lahore. Party leader Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi and other clerics quoted “immoral Biblical stories” and stated that “such insertions strongly offend Muslims, who hold all prophets and holy books in high esteem as part of religious belief and never even think of committing any blasphemy against them.” There were no chances of any clash between the two religions as long as the courts are functioning, said Farooqi. “Our lawyers are preparing to ask the court to ban the book; we will not follow in the footsteps of Terry Jones and burn the holy book”, he said. The Church in Pakistan, and the rest of the world, condemned Pastor Terry Jones of Florida for ordering the burning a Qur’an more than two months ago. However the aftermath continues as Church leaders feared. “These are attempts to wage crusades”, said Father James Channan, regional coordinator for the United Religious Initiative. He termed the clerics’ demand a “strong blow to Christians” in the country. “It’s a degrading move. We shall defend our manual for life at every level. The supreme court cannot head to such madness.” “Nobody in the world can judge the Bible. It’s a mad response to an equally mad act done by an individual”, said Bishop Timotheus Nasir, head of the United Presbyterian Church.